Big Bear Ski Trip

Last weekend, Rolland and I were happy to be invited to Big Bear, about an hour and a half away, for our good friend Nick's big 3-0 ski trip and birthday weekend.  There were three couples in total, and they found a cozy little cabin to stay at called Gypsies In The Palace:

  The first day, all the beginner skiers (including Rolland) hit the slopes and did a great job staying mostly upright.  I, however, took a couple nasty tumbles after I tried my hand at the beginner rail, similar to this one:

After I jumped sideways onto the rail, my feet swept out from under me and the side of my hamstring landed right on the metal edge.  It hurt pretty bad, which I quickly contributed to wimpiness due in part to my recent 30th birthday.  I told myself that I am not that old, and should be able to handle a little fall.  So I did it again.  Same result, but with a pretty good reaction from the nearby chair lift riders.  Think the reaction made after a bad fall while watching America's Funniest Home Videos.  Third time was a charm, but the first two falls were enough to leave an 5" in diameter black-and-blue reminder that I'm not as young as I used to be.  Ouch!

  Day two, Rolland and I went up with Nick and Brett.  Rolland skied a half day, did great and then promptly hit the lodge to hang out while we finished out the day.  Day three was just the die-hards - Me, Brett and Nick. 

We skied a powder-filled half day, ending with a really fun unmarked run down the mountain through the trees.  The whole group finished out the trip at a downtown Big Bear Mexican restaurant and talked about how it was such a GREAT weekend before heading back from the snow to our 70 degree weather and palm trees.  What an enjoyable time! Be sure to check out all the pictures from the trip. Thank you Nick and Jessica!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Rolland and I had a wonderful and relaxing Valentine's Day.  Despite deciding gifts were unnecessary this year, Rolland surprised me when he came home from work with flowers, chocolates and a very nice card.  He's a keeper, but I guess we all already knew that.

Rolland requested his mom's taco soup for dinner, and we watched The Hangover (potentially apres peau post-Dehner/Hoyer wedding, see details in the next post). Overall, it was a nice and laid-back Sunday.

Hope everybody had just as sweet of a day!

Dehner/Hoyer Wedding

We had a great time at Chris and Tera's beautiful wedding at the Hyatt next to the Golf Resort. Tera has a great eye - everything was tasteful and very stylish. She made a gorgeous bride.

They did a great job planning it and fun was had by all!  My favorite part was the introduction of the bride and groom into the reception.  Check it out!

Seeing Mo at UCLA

From time to time at Rolland's course, golf clubs will get mixed up.  When they do, Rolland will deliver the clubs back to their rightful owner, and I get a little road trip out of it.  This time we were headed into LA for this very reason. When we checked a map, our destination was only a few miles away from UCLA.  We gave Mo a quick call and got to take her and her very nice UCLA soccer-playing boyfriend Eder out to dinner in Hollywood.  It was a lot of fun to see her, having not for quite a while.

Hopefully I'll be able to get back out to LA sometime this year to catch a meet.  Here is a clip of her doing her thing at UCLA.  It makes me happy to see, as she wanted to go there as long as I can remember. Being a pretty neat kid and my first Elite gymnast (in and of itself a huge learning experience) she'll always be special to me.

Chuck and Jeanette's Visit

We were so happy to have had Jeanette and Chuck (Rolland's Mom and Stepdad) out for the month of January. Being so far away, it is great to have an extended stay to get to know my in-laws better. Jeanette and I spent most of the days cooking up a storm, and now are both on diets from our over-indulgences. If you haven't tried her Oreo Cookie dessert from the cookbook, it is a must try. We ate not one, but TWO pans of it!
The picture below is from our day trip to Rancho Cucamonga to Rolland's favorite place, Bass Pro Shop, to use some gift cards he received for his birthday (thanks Susan/Randy and Boosty!).

I think they had a great time out in the sunshine of Southern California, a welcome break from the snow of Michigan. Go figure though, we had record rain during their stay (four days straight, very unusual for out here). On a positive note, the mountains surrounding our area looked amazing packed with snow against the palm trees and flowers.

Bo also became extremely attached to "PaPa" Chuck during their stay, as he spoiled him with 2-3 forty-five minute runs through the open desert near our house every day, the first one around 6 in the morning!  Bo became so smitten with Chuck, he would literally follow him around like a shadow where ever he would go. And if the door was closed, Bo would wait outside with his nose under the crack of the door until Chuck would reappear.

 

He acted very sad when they left.  In fact, the first night after they got on the road, I went to get Bo to bring him to his bed and couldn't find him anywhere.  I looked in the living room, our room, in the office, outside... he was nowhere to be found.  Finally, I went past the guest room where Chuck and Jeanette slept during their stay, and this is what I saw:

 

Bo, Dallas, Rolland and I will be excited to have them back next year.